Page 1343 - Politics
Unkept promises may spoil BJP's chances in Gurugram
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is striving to return to power at the Centre, it could not be that easy for it in Haryana as majority of poll promises, say political pundits, have not been kept in the state.
WH official: US, China in 'final weeks' of trade talks
The top US trade negotiator suggests that the US and China are nearing an agreement that would end their trade conflict, but wouldn't commit to a specific time frame. "Our hope is that we are in the final weeks of having an agreement," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. But there are still major issues that need to be resolved, he said. "I can't predict success at this point." Lighthizer also said the agreement would have to include an enforcement provision that would enable the US to restore tariffs on Chinese imports if it violated provisions of the pact. That is seen as a major sticking point for Chinese officials. "We are going to have an enforceable agreement, or the president won't agree to the agreement," Lighthizer said. There have been conflicting signals from the administration about progress in the negotiations. President Trump said Friday he was confident that US could reach a deal with China, which would presumably remove .
Gujarat quota leader Hardik Patel joins Cong; draws BJP's ire
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel Tuesday joined the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Justifying his decision to enter active politics ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Hardik said he can now work for the six crore people of Gujarat in a better way. Hours after joining the opposition party, the 25-year-old Patidar quota spearhead came under severe attack from the ruling BJP, which said he stood "exposed" that he worked as a "Congress agent". After joining the Congress at its rally near Adalaj village in Gandhinagar district, Hardik in his address asked the gathering if it was the right decision. "Yes," the gathering replied. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hardik said that following the Pulwama terror attack last month, the Congress postponed its rally slated for February 28 but the PM kept addressing gatherings across the country. The Patidar leader, whose agitation for inclusion of his community in the OBC ...
Theresa May makes final push for her deal ahead of crunch Brexit vote
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday made a final push for the UK Parliament to back her Brexit withdrawal deal in a crunch vote after she claimed to have secured legally binding changes to the draft rejected by the House of Commons earlier this year. May called on MPs in the House of Commons ahead of the vote scheduled for around 1900 GMT on Tuesday to get behind her enhanced agreement setting out the UK's exit strategy from the EU or risk going against the will of the majority that voted for Brexit in the June 2016 referendum. "This is the moment...Back this motion and get the deal doneWe cannot serve our country by overturning a democratic decision of the British people," she said, hours after claiming a breakthrough in negotiations with the EU to secure changes to the controversial Irish backstop to make it more acceptable to all sides of the Commons. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn countered that it was the same "bad deal" MPs had rejected in January and ...
Row over IPS officer's transfer in C'garh, BJP slams Cong govt
A controversy has erupted in Chhattisgarh over the transfer of an IPS officer by the Congress government, with the opposition BJP terming it as an "act of revenge" by the ruling party and "victimisation" of the administration. Jitendra Shukla, a 2013 batch IPS officer, who was posted as Sukma district Superintendent of Police (SP) in December last year when the Congress government was formed in the state, was shifted to Police Headquarters (PHQ), Raipur on March 7. D S Maravi was given charge as Sukma SP. The transfer came in the wake an exchange of letters between a state minister and Shukla. Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, an MLA from Konta seat in Sukma district, had purportedly written a letter to Shukla last month seeking transfer of an inspector. However, the SP had sent a letter in response, in which he refused to transfer the inspector. On Sunday, Shukla wrote a long emotional post on Facebook, terming his transfer as "unexpected and unwanted". A day later, the ...
Every MP important in govt formation: Rama Rao
Claiming that every MP would be important in government formation post the Lok Sabha polls,TRS working president K T Rama Rao Tuesday said the party should win 16 of the total of 17 seats to ensure that Telangana gets various projects for its development. The TRS has said it aims to win 16 seats in the April 11 Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, leaving the Hyderabad segment to to its ally AIMIM, headed by Asaduddin Owaisi. "... the country is running like that today. If Mamata Banerjee is railway minister, all rails (projects) go to West Bengal. If Lalu Prasad Yadav ji is railway minister, all rail projects go to Bihar," Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said. "Narendra Modi is Prime Minister and because his home state is Gujarat, bullet train goes there, touching the entire Gujarat..." Raosaid, addressing a gathering here. "...Every MP is going be crucial" he said and referred to the TRS election symbol of car, 'Sir' (an apparent reference to Chandrasekhar ...
NPP MLA joins Congress in Arunachal
A senior National People's Party (NPP) MLA and several others political leaders joined the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh Tuesday. Tanga Byaling won from Nacho Assembly seat in Upper Subansiri district of the BJP-ruled state for five consecutive terms. Former Konsa West MLA Yumsen Mate and six other political leaders also joined the Congress. Lok Sabha and Assembly polls will be held in the state on April 11. Announcing that many more are waiting to join the party, state Congress president Takam Sanjoy claimed that the party will win the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state. He said the Congress would consider poll alliance in a few seats with parties like the Janata Dal (Secular) and People's Party of Arunachal.
Biden inches towards declaring a 2020 presidential bid
Former US vice president Joe Biden dropped teasing hints Tuesday that he could soon announce a 2020 White House campaign, telling an enthusiastic crowd that he may need their energy "in a few weeks." The Democratic elder statesman has been mulling a challenge against President Donald Trump for months. While he tops nearly all early polls for the Democratic nominations race, strategists and election observers have stressed that he is under pressure to enter the crowded field soon, or bow out. Biden, a consensus-building pragmatist and Washington establishment fixture, is almost certain to jump in, with a campaign kickoff expected by mid-April, sources recently told The New York Times. Much about Biden's address to the International Association of Fire Fighters in Washington suggested he is in: attendees waving printed "Run Joe Run" placards; recollections from his blue-collar roots; criticism of Trump without naming him; and soaring oratory about America's "creed" and the nation's ...
Priyanka Gandhi puts out her first tweet
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted for the first time on Tuesday, over a month after joining Twitter. She put out two tweets in quick succession -- one on Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and the other quoting the Father of the Nation against violence. "In the simple dignity of Sabarmati, the truth lives on," she said in her first tweet posted over a month after she joined Twitter on February 11. Her second tweet was a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Priyanka Gandhi, who was appointed AICC general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh East, had garnered a massive response on joining Twitter, attracting over one lakh followers on the social media platform within 10 hours. Comparing her first-day popularity on the micro-blogging website to that of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had hailed her as a "new superstar on social
Ambedkar's BBM, MIM tie up for LS poll in Maharashtra
Bharipa Bahujan Mahsangh (BBM) President Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday called off seat-sharing talks with Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance and announced that his party would contest Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats along with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM.
Rahul's message: Congress to take up economic issues
The Congress will fight the Lok Sabha elections on economic issues such as minimum income guarantee scheme, farm loan waiver, jobs and the "flawed" implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), party president Rahul Gandhi indicated on Tuesday while setting the tone for the party's campaign for the general election.
Special observers for J&K meet CEC, briefed on role
Special central observers Noor Mohammad, Vinod Zutshi and A.S. Gill, appointed by the Election Commission to assess the situation in Jammu and Kashmir for holding assembly elections, on Tuesday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra here.
'Hafiz ji' comment was pun; video should be shown in entirety: Prasad
Under attack by the opposition over his 'Hafiz ji' comment, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Tuesday said his one-year-old statement was kind of a pun and it should be seen in its full context of the video, where he had slammed terrorists. A day after the BJP targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi for referring to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as 'Masood Azhar ji', the Congress put out a video of Prasad referring Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed as 'Hafiz ji'. Speaking at a Times Network event here, Prasad said, "You have to show that one-year-old video of mine in its entirety. The day we exposed Hafiz Saeed in our press conference... and showed video of that terrorist and killer. I said it in 'vyang' (satire). I say they are murderers and killers and terrorist and we will continue to expose them...It was kind of pun". When asked about his statement being described as a pun while the remark by Gandhi becoming a subject of BJP's attack, Prasad said that his remark ..
Election Commission observers to visit Jammu and Kashmir
The three special observers appointed by the Election Commission to suggest as to when Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir can be held, will visit the state soon. While announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday, the poll panel had said that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be held simultaneously due to security concerns flagged by the Centre. The three observers -- Noor Mohammed, Vinod Zutshi and A S Gill -- Tuesday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and fellow commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra. The task cut out for the observers entails assessing the situation of Jammu and Kashmir on real time basis to enable the poll panel take a call on holding Assembly elections in the state. "During the meeting it was requested to the observers that they may kindly visit the state at the earliest...," an Election Commission statement said. Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has been dissolved, the Election Commission is bound to hold fresh .
Hold bypolls to all 21 TN assembly seats, DMK to EC
The DMK has requested the Election Commission to hold by-elections in all the 21 vacant Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu on April 18 and not just in 18 constituencies.
Probe ordered into fake news on NRI vote
The state poll authority on Tuesday directed the police to probe fake news circulating on social media, which claims overseas voters are eligible to vote online for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and by-elections for three Assembly seats, an official statement said.
Public support strength of J&K police in fight against terrorism: DGP
Public support is the strength of Jammu and Kashmir Police in the fight against terrorism, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said on Tuesday urging the force to further strengthen relations with the people. "People repose faith in the men in uniform and we have to ensure that common people do not suffer while we deal with the anti social elements," Singh said during an interaction with police personnel at Awantipora in Pulwama district. The DGP said that the police have to act tough against the law offenders and at the same time have to ensure that law abiding people are given due respect. He commended the efforts of the J-K police saying that the force has gained professionalism and expertise in fight against the terrorism in the state. "Talented and young officers are leading the force for maintaining law and order in the state," he added. Singh emphasised on the importance of discipline and commitment and advised the personnel to exhibit exemplary discipline and ...
SP declares 2 more candidates for LS polls
The Samajwadi Party Tuesday declared two more candidates for the coming Lok Sabha polls. Ramji Lal Suman will be the party's candidate from Hathras (reserved) seat and Rajendra S Bind will be the party's nominee from Mirzapur seat, according to an official release issued here. Earlier, the SP had declared candidates on nine seats in the state, including party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav from Kannauj and MPs Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav from Badaun and Firozabad, respectively. The other SP candidates are Kamlesh Katheria from Etawah, Bhailal Kol from Robertsganj and Shabbir Valmiki from Bahraich.
Polls will sound 'death knell' for BJP, end Modi's 'reign of
The Lok Sabha polls will sound the "death knell" for the BJP and bring an end to Narendra Modi's "reign of fear", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted Tuesday. The Trinamool Congress supremo said the electoral battle will be between a "united India and some isolated people", as she mounted a scalding assault on the BJP and the prime minister. "The 2019 Lok Sabha polls will sound the death knell for the BJP and give people freedom from the reign of fear of Narendra Modi. It will be a fight between a united India and some isolated people," she told a press conference after releasing the list of TMC candidates for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. She claimed that she had information that "VVIPs" were using helicopters and chartered flights to transport money to bribe voters ahead of the polls. Banerjee assailed the Centre over a host of issues, including the Rafale deal, farm distress and shrinking employment opportunities. Backing Congress president Rahul Gandhi's
HC reserves order on plea against BCCI
The Madras High Court Tuesday reserved its order on a PIL seeking direction to authorities for initiating legal action against the BCCI for representing the country at international events allegedly without the government's approval. A bench comprising Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad reserved the order after hearing arguments by counsels for the petitioner and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). During the arguments, the bench asked when the Central government had not raised any objections against the BCCI what was the locus standi of the petitioner, Geeta Rani of New Delhi. "It is the Central government which has to raise objection and not any others," it said. The counsel for the petitioner Reepak Kansal submitted that BCCI was registered as a society in Tamil Nadu under the Societies Registration Act and had always denied its status of being a state under Article 12 of the Constitution. Even at the time of registration, no recognition or affiliation was ...